"I see… I'm back here again..." Shin opened his 'eyes' and observed the gorgeous scenery that surrounded him.
After he fell asleep next to his daughter's bed, Shin thought that he would sleep through the night and wake up rejuvenated for the next task at hand. After all, being the Prince of the Lantis Republic and the Master of Guardian Sword meant that the paperwork on his desk would never cease. However, as his consciousness came back to him, Shin noticed that something was terribly off. Instead of the wood-scented bed that comforted his daughter every single night, Shin was sleeping on top of a vast ocean, pushing ripples out with every small movement.
Above, there were a full plethora of stars twinkling in jubilance. There weren't any moons, and neither were there any clouds. Just pure stars that showed the resplendence of night. One might think that in the thicket of night, there would be little to no vision. However, Shin could monitor his surroundings clearly. Beneath Shin, the vast ocean was sparkling with a cerulean glow, one that was soothing and illusory all at the same time. It was as if Shin had been transported into an astral dimension, one that was separated from the material realm.
Shin pushed his heavy body up, sending waves rippling out from underneath him. Before he knew it, the Prince was standing on top of the vast ocean, filled with dense Celestial energies. The ocean was humongous, far bigger than Shin had ever anticipated. In fact, Shin wasn't sure if there was an end to this bottomless ocean.
"Wow… It really has grown..." Shin chuckled to himself, awed by his spiritual body's advancements. He was taken back to the first time he entered this realm, back when he was a mere ten-year-old child. The ocean was a mere lake, one that could be found in any small forest. There were a mixture of lake creatures, but they weren't overwhelming in numbers.
Yet, as Shin stared into the abyssal lake, he couldn't even fathom the number of oceanic creatures that it could hold. If Shin's spiritual body was a vessel, the amount of water within him was considered to be his mana pool. With such a deep and unsurpassable mana pool, it was no wonder that Shin could contend with Spirit Saints even though he was a Rank 79 Spirit Emperor.
"Come out. I know you're there," Shin softly ordered.
As if on cue, bubbles rose to the surface in front of Shin, creating massive undulations among the ocean surface. A serpentine shadow broke free from the ocean's restraints and took one turn around Shin's vulnerable body. However, the Prince didn't bat a single eyelid. He smiled and reached his left hand out, allowing the mana-dense water to splash all over his body.
"You've grown as well."
"RRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRR!!!" The Celestial Dragon cheekily roared. It has been a while since Shin last praised it.
"So big and strong… And yet you're still a child..." Shin scratched his forehead jokingly. However, in a split second, all silliness left Shin's expressions. He furrowed his brows together and bit the bottom of his lip. "Bringing me here once again… Am I already on the precipice of breaking through to the next realm?"
"..." The Celestial Dragon was quiet, but its head slowly moved up and down.
"I see… The Spirit Venerate realm, huh? To think that I won't even have to prepare to breach the second barrier of mortality..." A low grunt escaped from Shin's lips.
There were two major bottlenecks in a cultivator's path. The Rank 40 ascension from Spirit Adept to Spirit Spectre, and the Rank 80 ascension from Spirit Emperor to Spirit Venerate. Billions of cultivators have struggled from each bottleneck, and only a select few had the capabilities of breaching the barriers of mortality. After all, when one breaks through that barrier, they would double their lifespans, bringing them one step closer to the ultimate goal of eternal life. Therefore, the difficulty when ascending was staggeringly hard, particularly the second barrier of mortality.
It didn't matter if one was a genius. It didn't matter if one had hundreds of years of experience. It didn't matter if one had the best resources known to mankind. The second barrier of mortality was the bottleneck that separated experts from legends. Even Lady Seph, one of the most talented Divine Healers in history, had difficulties ascending into that legendary realm.
Given how difficult it was to ascend, Shin had thought that he would take at least a decade or two. That's why he was so obsessed with matching a Spirit Saint's power when he was just a Spirit Emperor. However, as he stared at the Celestial Dragon that was oozing out immense amounts of mana, Shin couldn't help but feel a little downtrodden.
"I didn't have to put in any work, and I'm already ascending… Why is that?"
"I think you know the reason," a calm voice that shouldn't be in Shin's consciousness echoed out.
Needless to say, Shin abruptly turned to the source of the voice. His heart was palpitating, and the blood in his system was pumping at absurd speeds. Not just because there was a voice within his Spiritual Body that wasn't his, but because… He recognised that voice.
Standing with his arms behind his back, a tall, handsome man smiled at Shin. His luxurious, viridian hair glossed as the radiant starlight bounced off his cranium. His flawless skin that didn't seem capable of ageing continued to sparkle in youthful radiance. However, most importantly, the smile that he wore on his lips was the most comforting one that Shin had seen in ages.
"Junius!" Shin called his elder brother's name with tears in his eyes.
"Haha, look at you… Already over thirty and still this emotional." Junius laughed. "You're a father and the new figurehead of the Lantis Republic… Shouldn't you show some control?"
"Hah… You've just reunited with me, and you're back to your nagging days!" Shin laughed at the familiar teasing that Junius used to do.
"That's just a brother's nature," Junius shrugged his shoulders while floating towards his younger brother. "So… How have you been?"
"Not that bad!" Shin chuckled. "Oh, don't you want to hear about Errol? That little fella that you've left in my hands, he had just awakened his Spirit! Also, I told him about us..." Excited by his brother's return, Shin continued to speak at a rapid pace. To him, the two closest friends he had in his childhood were his ex-lover Ariel and his eldest brother Junius. Seeing him up close again had reverted the mature Shin back to his childhood years, and gave him the excitement of a teenager.
Shin didn't hold anything back. All of his experiences over the past ten years were narrated to Junius in great detail. Witnessing the birth of his children, fighting battles all over the continents under Guardian Sword, and even the progression of Errol's growth. Nothing was left to the imagination.
"I see, you've been through a lot, huh?" A warm smile crept up Junius' lips. "Listen Shin, as much as I would love to listen more, I have come here with a task... You're about to breach the Spirit Venerate realm. So, I'd thought that I would lend a helping hand."
"Spirit Venerate realm..."
"What's the matter? You don't seem all that happy about ascending."
"No, it's just… I don't know if I'm worthy of becoming a Spirit Venerate anymore." Shin looked down at the vast ocean and the Celestial Dragon that was coiled around him. "All these years, I've been handed Spirit Ranks like a spoilt brat because of my bloodline. If I hadn't awakened the Celestial Dragon, how could I ever become a Spirit Venerate? I feel like a fraud..."
"..."
"That's not all! In my years battling the Black Masks, I'd fought believing that the Allfather was the root of all evil and all who follow him are just mindless killing machines. However, as I dig deeper into their core, I've started to second-guess my motivations. The Noble Beasts that I'd fought and killed… They're just like you and me. No… They're more like you, Junius. Fighting for their ideals… To protect their family."
"Yeah, I've heard." Junius nodded sympathetically. Then with a broad smile, he asked: "Shin… Why are you fighting?"
"Huh?"
"The Allfather is fighting to gain Immortality. So are every member of the Black Masks. The Alliance is fighting to kill the Allfather and bring peace back to the world. Your Master, your Aunt Tian, your wife Kanari, your Guardian Sword… They're all fighting to restore balance to the world… So Shin… What are you fighting for? What is your dream?"
"My dream?"
"Yes, your dream..." Junius pointed to Shin's core. "What is Shin Iofiel's dream? The one thing that led you on your cultivation journey in the first place?"
"Dream..." Shin fell deep into thought, but honestly… He didn't have to. In a mere two seconds, the images hell flames flickered within his mind. The images of a corpse surrounded by mourners that weep like the wraiths of the netherworld came to his soul. And most importantly… the image of the single night where he gazed at the stars with his special somebody...
"That's right… I trained so hard… To chase Yggdrasil." Shin was enlightened.
"Yes, you were also fighting to gain Immortality Shin… That was your dream." Junius smiled. "You wanted to resurrect Ariel and create a utopia where all of us could live happily ever after. That was what my kind little brother had dreamt of..."
"The Dream… To become an Immortal?" Shin looked at the Celestial Dragon, who only had a smug face. "I see… From the very start, the Allfather and I had been chasing the same dream…"